ICHNEUMONS, &=€. 



577 



Fig. 57.— Fairy Fly 



(Mymar jmlchellus, Curt.). 



Magnified. 



half an inch across the wings. They are, however, by no means inconspicu- 

 ous insects, being of a bright metallic green, or cupreous ; and the female 

 has a long straight ovipositor. 



The pupas of the Chalcididce are naked, but those of the next family the 

 Prodotrypidw, are enclosed in cocoons. The body, which is usually stout in 



the Chalcididce, is slender in the 

 ProctotrypidcE, and the wings Family 



are almost destitute of any Proctotrypidce . 

 trace of neuration. Most of 

 them are egg-parasites, and some are among the 

 smallest of known insects, being barely visible 

 even to the most practised eye, except as a 

 mere speck on a window-pane. The smallest 

 of all belong to the sub-family Mymarinw, and 

 Mr. F. Enock, who has paid special attention 

 to them, calls them " fairy flies. " They have 

 very narrow oval or battledore-shaped wings, 

 fringed round with long hairs ; and one or two 

 of them are aquatic in their habits, probably attacking the eggs of some 

 water-insect. 



The Braconidce and IchneumonidcB include the greater part of the remain- 

 ing parasitic Hymenoptera. The neuration, though still not very compli- 

 cated, extends over the greater part of the forewings ; and 

 the antennee are generally long and slender. In the Bra- Family 



conidcB there is one small joint beyond the scape of the Braconidce. 

 antennse, but in the Ichneumonida there are always two. 

 In the Ichneumonidm we often find an open space towards the middle of the 

 forewings, in which the principal nervures of the wing centre ; this is called 

 the areolet. In some genera of these two 

 families, the ovipositor is concealed ; Family 



but in some of the larger Ichneiimonid<e Ichneumonidm. 

 belonging to the sub-family PiTtipliiuz, 

 the ovipositor, which is usually composed of three sepa- 

 rate filaments, is of great length, being intended to reach 

 the larvae of wood-boring insects. Rhyssa persuasoria 

 (Linn.), which attacks the larva of Sirex gigas in its wooden 

 galleries, is black with yellow markings, and is one of 

 the largest of the British Ichneumonidce, measuring 

 nearly two inches across the wings, and nearly three 

 inches from the head to the extremity of the ovipositor, 

 which is nearly twice as long as the rest of the body. But 

 in some of the allied foreign species, the ovipositor is much 

 longer, not measuring less than six or eight inches in 

 length. 



The Evaniincp, are a small family of parasitic insects, re- 

 markable for their peculiar forms. The abdomen is 

 attached to the upper part of the metathorax, which 

 gives the whole insect a very peculiar appearance. The species of the genus 

 Mvania (Fabr.) are parasitic on the egg-capsules of cock- 

 roaches, and are found all over the world, though for some 

 reason or other they are extremely rare in England. They 

 are small black insects, measuring about three-quarters of 

 38 



Fin. 58. — Ichneumon 

 Fly {Rhyssa persua- 

 soria). \ Nat. size. 



Family 

 Evaniidce. 



